Flan (Traditional Caramel Custard)

Name: Flan (Traditional Caramel Custard)
Total time: 5400 s
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 500 grams (2 1/2 cups) sugar; 20 grams (2 tablespoons) water; 711 milliliters (3 cups) whole milk, or 2 cups whole milk and 1 cup heavy cream; 2 strips lemon zest; Dash salt; 6 large eggs; 2 egg yolks; 3/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract; Dulce de leche and/or Chantilly cream, for serving, if desired

Ricardo @tallcook

Manhattan, New York, United States

Since I was little, flan has been one of my favorite foods and my dessert of choice when eating out. This is the way I always made flan, without condensed or evaporated milk. It is what in Spain is called « Flan a la Antigua ».

Ricardo @tallcook

Manhattan, New York, United States

Saved

Ingredients

1 hr 30 min plus 8-hour chilling

8 to 10 servings

500 grams (2 1/2 cups)sugar
20 grams (2 tablespoons)water
711 milliliters (3 cups)whole milk, or 2 cups whole milk and 1 cup heavy cream
2 stripslemon zest
Dashsalt
6large eggs
2egg yolks
3/4 teaspoonspure vanilla extract
Dulce de leche and/or Chantilly cream, for serving, if desired
Chantilly Cream

Saved

Steps

1 hr 30 min plus 8-hour chilling

1

Make caramel: Pour 200 grams (1 cup) sugar and the 10 grams of water into a saucepan, preferably one that is white or light-colored inside. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, swirling the pan to combine the sugar and water. Do not stir.
2

Let boil until deep amber in color, swirling the pan occasionally to caramelize evenly, about 10 minutes total. Watch the pan carefully after the mixture starts turning golden; it will quickly become light brown, then amber, then dark amber. Immediately pour caramel into a 9- by -5-inch loaf pan and swirl to coat the bottom and sides evenly. Set aside to harden.
3

Heat oven to 325 degrees.
4

In a saucepan or microwaveable bowl or pitcher, combine milk, lemon zest, salt and remaining 300 grams (1½ cups) sugar. Over low heat or in the microwave, heat through, stirring to melt the sugar. Set aside.
5

In a blender (or using a hand blender in a pitcher), combine eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. Blend until smooth.
6

Remove the lemon zest strips from the hot milk mixture. With the blender running, gradually pour the milk mixture into the eggs. Go very slowly at first so that the eggs don’t cook from the heat of the milk. Blend just until smooth. Pour egg-milk mixture through a fine colander into the caramel-lined pan.
7

Place a 9- by- 13-inch baking dish in the lower third of oven. Carefully place the loaf pan in the baking dish. Pour hot tap water into the baking dish until it comes about halfway up the sides of the loaf pan. (Don’t worry if the oven seems to be losing heat; the flan will adjust.)
8

Bake 1 hour, until flan is set but still jiggly in the center. Remove flan from water bath and cool on a rack. Refrigerate, uncovered, until cold and firm, at least 8 hours or up to 3 days. The caramel will soften as it sits.
9

To unmold, run a thin sharp knife around the edges and rest the bottom of the pan on a hot wet kitchen towel for a few minutes. Center a flat-bottomed platter or serving dish with a rim on top of the pan and, holding both, carefully flip the pan and plate together. The flan will fall onto the plate with a squelch; lift off the pan and let the caramel run all over the top.
10

Serve chilled, in slices, with dulce de leche or Chantilly cream if desired.